Sonning Deanery Ringing Contest

Last month I wrote about the first ever youth ringing contest, in London. This month it is about one more
down to earth, and much closer to home.

Every year, Sonning Deanery Branch of the Oxford Diocesan Guild (which actually covers Bracknell Deanery
as well as Sonning) holds two ringing contests, one on 6 bells and one on 8. The Branch has 17 towers with bells, but not
all have strong enough bands to enter the competitions.

This year the 6-bell contest was held at Waltham St Lawrence on a lovely sunny afternoon in April, and six
teams entered, which was a slight upturn on recent years. The teams represented five towers, with All Saints entering two
teams, something that we haven’t been able to do for many years.

Our teams were placed second and fourth. The latter, led by Mhairi Miller, included our newest and youngest
ringers, Jack Stanford and Oli James, who had both rung outside All Saints for the first time only a couple of weeks before
the event, so out congratulations to them for taking part.